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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

All You Get Is Me by Yvonne Prinz

Title: All You Get Is MeAuthor: Yvonne Prinz

Release Date: 21st December 2010

My Rating: 3/5

Blurb:Things were complicated enough for Roar, even before her father decided to yank her out of the city and go organic. Suddenly, she’s a farm girl, albeit a reluctant one, selling figs at the farmers’ market and developing her photographs in a ramshackle shed. Caught between a troublemaking sidekick named Storm, a brooding, easy-on-the-eyes L.A. boy, and a father on a human rights crusade that challenges the fabric of the farm community, Roar is going to have to tackle it all—even with dirt under her fingernails and her hair pulled back with a rubber band meant for asparagus.

In A Nutshell:A pleasant tale to while away an afternoon with as Roar experiences a summer unlike any other.

My Review: Roar is ready for her summer break. She’s looking forward to sleeping in, hanging out with her best friend Storm and taking copious amount of photographs. But life isn’t that easy and despite the agreement Roar brokered with her father when he decided to move them out to a farm, she is roped into helping out with all the chores around the farm, which includes 4am starts.

On their way to their farmers market stall one morning, Roar and her dad witness a head on crash between a rich, real estate developer and an illegal Mexican worker, leaving the worker dead. Roar’s dad, an ex-human rights lawyer, doesn’t want to see the death swept under the rug and so sets out to fight for the rights of illegal workers. Things get complicated for Roar when she meets Forest, the son of the developer who was driving the car, and is instantly drawn to him. As their relationship blossoms in secret, her father continues to aggravate locals with his views on workers’ rights, causing friction and trouble not only for Roar and her dad, but their farm workers as well.

This is a coming-of-age novel that documents an unforgettable summer for Roar in the lead up to her sixteenth birthday as she tries to balance farming life with boys, an out of control bestie, the resurfacing of the mother who abandoned her, and threats against her father and the farm.

My favourite parts of the story were the ‘family’ dinners Roar and her dad have with their friends and workers, Roar’s passion for photography (not the digital kind!) and the simple moments she shares with Forest.

1 comment:

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself with this book. I'm going to give this one a skip, however, just because there are too many books out there. If I'm ever in short supply of summer/lazy day reads, though, this one fits the bill.